Wedding Craft: Dried Floral Earrings

Incorporate your favorite garden elements into your wedding day celebration with beautiful, handmade earrings.

By: Ruth Meharg

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Floral Earrings

Earrings are a wedding day necessity, and these handmade floral earrings are a lovely way to add an extra bit of nature’s beauty to your special day. Floral earrings look lovely on the bride, and also make great gifts for bridesmaids, mothers, grandmothers and everyone in between.

Supplies

To make your floral earrings you will need dried flowers, flower petals or leaves (we used bougainvillea petals here), earring hooks, jewelry wire, needle nose pliers and wire cutters and a little bit of tissue paper. For the sake of clear photographs in this tutorial we used painted wire, however silver or gold wire is easy to find in the jewelry section of your local craft store.

Seal the Petal

You will need to begin by sealing your dried petal to strengthen it. You can use Mod Podge, matte medium or gloss medium, all of which can be found in your local arts and crafts store. Coat both sides with two layers of sealant. It should dry clear and give the petal added strength for longevity.

Strengthen the Back

When the sealant is dry, cut out two circles of tissue paper and use the sealant to glue them to the back end of the petal you will be attaching the earring hook to. This will reinforce the petal so it doesn’t tear off the hook. For the sake of clarity we used contrasting colored tissue paper, if you use a similar colored paper it will virtually disappear. Once dry use a needle to poke holes through the petals and paper where you want your wire to go.

Add a Hook

The subtlest way to attach your earring is to create a “hook” in on end of the wire and a loop in the other, like the example on the left. Place the hook through the top end of your petal and fold the wire back on itself to hold the petal securely. Use the loop on top to attach to your earring hook. You can get a bit more decorative, like the middle example, by placing the wire through the petal and twisting it into a swirl. Or avoid working with wire altogether by buying jump rings. Attach one to the top of your petal and hook another jump ring through that one to attach to your earring hook.

Finish your Earrings

Attach your petal to your earring hook using the loop you created in the wire at the top of your petal. Be sure to reclose the loop tightly so your petal stays on. Your earrings are now ready for wedding festivities and many parties after!

Ivy Leaf Earrings

If you aren’t the flowery type but still want to include nature in your earrings, leaves are an excellent way to do so. These ivy leaves look lovely paired with stone beads and a decorative wire swirl. Autumn leaves can also look quite stunning as earrings.

Adding Beads

These ivy leaves look lovely paired with stone beads and a decorative wire swirl.

Chandelier Earrings

You can create a chandelier effect for your earrings by using small flowers and their long stems rather than larger leaves or petals. You can add beads, or use the flowers alone.

Wrap Wire

To create chandelier earrings, begin by sealing your dried elements, just as you would with a leaf or petal. Once dry, tightly wrap wire around one end of the stem, leaving enough at the end to create a loop. These loops will attach your stems to the earring hook.

Finished Earrings

Attach the stems to the earring hook and gently bend the wire and arrange until they hang the way you like. You can use all kinds of flowers and plants for your earrings, but the best ones will be plants that hold their color as they dry. Try roses, bougainvillea, African marigold, delphinium, bachelor's button, larkspur, pom pom dahlias, star flower or experiment with whatever your favorite is.